Saturday, March 7, 2015

Jewish Voice for Peace. Aiding and Abetting Anti-Semites. Again.

The 2015 AIPAC Policy conference was the largest ever, with over 16,000 supporters of strong bonds between Israel and America attending. Of those, 3,000 were college students, ground zero in the campaign against Israel. A variety of fringe groups protested the event. Jewish Voice for Peace proudly stood shoulder to shoulder with notoriously anti-Semitic groups in its protest of the conference. The group was silent as a Hezbollah terror flag was unfurled at their protest. Later that week, the same groups joined forces to protest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to Congress

In an email, Hatem Bazians' American Muslims for Palestine boasted of the alliance, which also included such fringe groups as the Neturai Karta and Code Pink

With such partners, it should come as no surprise that JVP endorses the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This is consistent with JVP activities such as attempting to block ZIM cargo ships from unloading in Tampa and in Los Angeles, participating in the Free Gaza flotillas, and raising funds for the anti-Zionist International Solidarity Movement. Why does JVP associate itself with such radical, hateful
organizations? Perhaps it is because they share the same goal: Israel’s
demise. To this end, JVP advances a one-sided anti-Israel narrative,
refers to Israel as an “apartheid” state, and lobbies to distance the
United States from Israel. JVP views itself as the “Jewish wing of the Palestinian Solidarity movement”
and is an integral part of this anti-Israel coalition, serving as its
“Jewish shield,” washing away the moral stain of antisemitism from their
partners’ records.

Given JVP’s emphatic statement
that “as Jews, we have no tolerance for antisemitism,” the organization
should be the first to speak out against its allies’ antisemitic
rhetoric. Yet JVP remains silent, showing it has a blind spot when
anti-Jewish hate emanates from its anti-Israel comrades. This
willingness to consort with antisemites hiding behind an anti-Zionist
façade says much more about JVP’s character than Israel, the sole target
of its vitriolic and obsessive criticism.